Stargazing
by Rachel500
Summary: Sam, Jack and a night sky full of stars. What could possibly go wrong?


Stargate SG1 is somebody else's, probably MGM/Gekko Corp/Sci-Fi, and I freely admit that whoever's it is, I'm borrowing their show and they retain all rights, etc.

**Author's Note: **Sam/Jack. Spoilers for Stargate all series. Written in response to a Thursday Vignette over on Rough Trade to practice my writing. Prompt is November 1st and a picture of a night sky.

**Stargazing**

"This was a brilliant idea," declared Jack O'Neill happily as he poked at the fire he'd built for their small campsite.

Samantha Carter grinned at him, her shoulder nudging his.

They'd sat together closely on the rock by the fire, close enough for someone to realise they were a couple. Jack never got tired of knowing they could sit so close after years of having to watch every single inch of personal distance, every touch no matter how innocent because of the regulations between them.

There were still regulations.

He was a three star General and Sam was a full bird Colonel well on her way to her own star; they still had ranks between them hence the regulations but those were tempered by the fact that they were married. Not that their conduct in public wasn't exemplary; Jack wouldn't risk the respect Sam had damn well earned, and she had always been a good officer for all she was perfectly capable of rebelling and saving the world despite her orders.

But it was still rare that they got to sit close enough that people would know they were together and Jack was going to enjoy every single moment.

He poked at the fire one more time and settled back. Sam snuggled into his side and he wrapped an arm around her drawing her closer.

The view was fantastic; the treeline with the hint of civilisation thanks to the lights from the ranger's hut just beyond underlining the night sky above them. The sky was clear as a bell and the vista of the tapestry of stars was laid out in front of Jack and Sam like it was a picture meant only for them.

Stargazing on Valentine's was a brilliant idea, Jack considered again smugly. Of course, the whole trip had been a brilliant idea.

They hardly got any time alone together. Vacations were rare between Sam's duty as the commander of the General Hammond and Jack's position as the Head of Homeworld Security. It had taken a lot of organisation for Jack to wrangle the week of Valentine's for them both as leave. Daniel may have helped a little by pointing out that the universe was relatively quiet.

Atlantis was back in Pegasus and Sheppard's problem for the most part, Woolsey's for the rest (and he still didn't quite believe that the man had settled into Atlantis so well). The whole clusterfuck which had been the ninth chevron was on hold – literally. The Destiny crew had been placed into stasis ahead of a leap which would take them years to complete. There was nothing Earth could do to help them.

Well.

They were working on it.

Maybe Earth couldn't help them right that minute. But they would help them. They didn't leave their people behind.

In the meantime, their own galaxy was settled into something of a truce. The Goa'uld were gone; maybe there was a snake or two hiding out there – Jack could believe that – but they were gone as the evil overlords of the galaxy. The Lucien Alliance, on the other hand, was still a giant pain in the butt even if they were a known element. The organised crime syndicate had moved in on a lot of Goa'uld territory and occasionally they feinted in Earth's direction.

"Stop thinking about the Lucien Alliance," Sam murmured beside him.

Jack glanced at her, quirking one scarred eyebrow upward in a faint parody of their favourite Jaffa.

"You get a certain kind of scowl when you think about them," Sam told him cheerfully.

So much for his poker face.

Well.

He'd never had much poker face about the Goa'uld either.

Or the Tok'ra.

Or the Trust.

Or…

OK, maybe it was time to consider he'd never had a poker face.

At least where his enemies were concerned. Frankly, he thought his poker face about Sam had been pretty good. Almost too good. She'd almost married someone else thinking Jack had given up on loving her.

Sam nudged his shoulder with hers. "I thought we'd agreed not to dwell."

Jack smiled wryly. Yep. Clearly whatever poker face he'd had was long gone. He glanced at her with his heart in his eyes.

"I love you too," Sam said, leaning over and kissing him softly.

Jack hummed appreciatively as she settled back and they both looked up to the expanse of stars above their heads.

"This was a good idea," Jack stated out loud contentedly. "Stars, a campfire…you."

Sam grinned at him. "Don't forget the beer and jello."

He smiled back at her. Their first Valentine's day had been celebrated with a spontaneous picnic of beer and jello; it was their tradition.

"We should do this more often," he declared.

Sam nodded, tucking a stray blonde lock of hair behind her ear. He liked it when she wore it down. The long length of it spilled over her shoulders like a golden waterfall.

Sam chuckled and snuggled closer. "I've missed this."

He looked at her quizzically.

"You, me and the stars," Sam said.

Jack hummed his agreement. "You know what I haven't missed?"

"Trees?" suggested Sam with exaggerated sweetness and a wave at the treeline in front of them.

Jack shoved her gently and waited until she settled back. "I haven't missed people shooting at us."

She laughed.

The bright sound warmed Jack's soul. He never got tired of hearing her laugh.

"I still don't know how you managed to get us both leave."

"Bribery," Jack joked.

"No," Sam said, "seriously how did you manage to pull this off?"

Jack shrugged. "I had Daniel do a whole lecture to the Joint Chiefs and the President on why it was safe to let us go on vacation."

She leaned back to look at him fully and cocked an eyebrow. For a second she looked disturbingly just like Teal'c.

"It was his idea!" Jack protested. It was too; once Jack had finished complaining over their usual weekly video chat, the intrepid Daniel Jackson, who at heart was still that well-intentioned archaeologist who didn't believe the military needed to dictate anything he did, had swung into action.

Sam sighed. "You do realise that by saying it was safe for us to go on vacation you've just jinxed us, right?"

"No!" denied Jack quickly, waving the stick at the fire. "Daniel had pictures! We haven't even been invaded since the Wraith thing!"

Sam's eyes widened and she nodded slowly. "Actually, you're right."

"See!" Jack said. "So…vacation."

She gave him one last long look and settled back against him.

They both looked up the night sky.

Jack breathed out slowly, relaxing again.

Daniel's presentation had been brilliant – long, but brilliant. Their friend had made a solid case; they'd dealt with the Trust and rogue NID; they had a handle on the Lucien Alliance; the Goa'uld were defeated; Atlantis was back in Pegasus and dealing with the Wraith; Destiny was on hold…

Jack had not jinxed them. He had not…

Something shot across the sky, a fiery trail marking its way.

"Oh, for crying out loud!"

And their phones began to ring.

The End.


End file.
